I make no apologies for the length of this article. I’ve had a lot of these thoughts rattling around in my head for a while and discussed many of the with other fans but felt that now was the right time to put them down in print in one place. It’s probably one to put your feet up with a cup of tea for, though. You may not agree with some of my opinions (or all of my opinions) but they’ve all been discussed with other fans at some point that agree. I’ll present them in three parts which I think go very well with Evan McMurtrie’s article ‘Chelsea Football Club: Where To Now?’
So down to business: Enough is enough. For me, the time has come to remove Jose Mourinho from his position of Chelsea manager, thank him for all that he has done and pay him on his way. There is no doubting he has been the greatest manager we’ve ever had but surely past glories can only buy so much leeway? To have lost nine of the first seventeen competitive matches of the season as reigning champions of the Barclays Premier League is a shockingly poor statistic.
The discussion on whether Mourinho should stay or go has divided our own fans and that cannot be a good thing. A growing number like me feel that it’s time to say goodbye whereas there are still those who believe Jose can turn this around and be successful again. Each is entitled to their own opinion but it’s disappointing when those who have faith still in Mourinho feel that those that don’t are disloyal and ‘not true fans’. That’s not the case at all as we all want success for our club and just believe it can be achieved a different way.
There are many who blame the players and I do not disagree that they have a huge part to play in turning this around but it’s Mourinho’s job to control, motivate and inspire those players and that obviously isn’t working.
So where has it all gone wrong for us and why? In my opinion, a number of issues that I noticed and highlighted in the second half of last season were not dealt with in the summer. All we did in the transfer market was replace rather than improve where all our rivals improved their teams (even Arsenal only buying Petr Cech from us improved their side). Below I’ve detailed what I think has either gone wrong or at least needed improving for this season.
YOU CAN IMPROVE A WINNING SIDE
The impression was that the team that won the 2014/15 Premier League trophy would be good enough to defend the title. Unfortunately, no team moves forward by standing still and we certainly needed to improve some areas. We also need to remember that the second half of last season could not be classed as winning in style. From January onwards the team looked wobbly and thankfully none of our rivals capitalised to beat us to the wire. That alone would tell me to invest heavily in the summer.
If a team is winning while playing badly then it’s a sign that improvements need to be made in my opinion because if the results start matching the style of play you’ve got nothing to build on. I’d rather have a team playing well and losing because you can see only a couple of things will need changing but any team winning with bad football is riding their luck.
THE DEFENCE
One thing I said all summer was that our defence was thin and we lacked cover across the line. At the time, we’d only bought Baba Rahman as left back cover leaving Cesar Azpilicueta and Branislav Ivanovic (I’ll come to him later) as the other full backs. Then we only have three centre backs in John Terry, Gary Cahill and Kurt Zouma to cover the centre back positions. All of our best defensive youngsters like Tomas Kalas, Andreas Christensen, Kenneth Omeruo and Nathan Ake were allowed to leave on loan.
You don’t have to be a genius to see that six players covering four positions are simply not enough. The late addition of Papy Djilobodji has done little solve the problem. Mourinho put all his eggs in the John Stones basket and when that didn’t come off we were left with a thin back line. Why were other options like Raphael Varane, Sergio Ramos, Neven Subotic or Mats Hummels not lined up in case Everton wouldn’t budge? I’m sure you all have other players you would consider but these were just off of the top of my head.
Now that Ivanovic is injured we’re forced to play Zouma at right back because Rahman is not strong enough yet to play left back in the big games. It’s a shambles.
IVANOVIC
Like Mourinho, there is no doubt how valuable the Serbian international has been over the years for the club. He had a very bad start to this season but the writing was on the wall as far back as January and once again Mourinho did nothing to correct it. Even when Ivanovic was playing badly earlier this season he was not dropped or rested from the side in order to regain his confidence and instead he was left in the spotlight for match after match, clearly being isolated as a weak spot by opposing teams.
I remember watching the defeat to Spurs at the start of the year and being infuriated by how Ivanovic kept leaving his position exposed to attack with Willian having to cover back for him and Cahill being dragged wide from his central position. He is good going forward but it needs to be at the right time and he needs to get back in position when the ball is lost. For the past year, his positioning has been poor and his tackling weak or badly timed and no replacement was sourced in the summer.
Azpilicueta would be ideal as the main right back but we would need a strong left back to do that and Rahman clearly isn’t ready. I raised the Ivanovic point with other fans last season but they didn’t care because he scored vital goals. Yes, he did but his primary role is defending. If we have to rely on our right back to score crucial goals that highlight another issue altogether. Hopefully after his injury he can return as the Ivanovic we had before last season but more than likely I think his time is done and a new defence needs to be formed.
TERRY AND THE ISSUE OF LEADERSHIP
The conundrum here is that we need to look at how to replace Terry in future but whenever we play without him we have no on-field leader. I don’t believe the football we play with Terry in the side is as good as when he isn’t because we play the back line much deeper. Our captain has never been the fastest of centre backs but he’s lost that much pace that playing even a slightly high back line to press the opposition leaves him exposed.
We are therefore forced to defend from deep and counter attack with speed. Unfortunately, our attacking midfielders are more skill than pace and our striker’s game is about strength and force. We are not blessed with players who can counter attack with speed and the one that we did have, Juan Cuadrado has been dispatched on loan after failing to make an impression on the first team. The alternative (and let’s face it we’re going to have to do this permanently sooner or later) is to leave Terry out of the side. Now, when we do that the team plays better, winning the ball higher upfield and getting our attacking force into a threatening position much sooner.
Unfortunately, a Chelsea side without Terry is like a ship without a rudder. A plane without a pilot. A chicken without a head. I think Cesc Fabregas was purchased with the intention of being the next captain but has failed to direct the play and inspire the troops when Terry has been absent. In fact, he’s had a horrendous start to the season which has failed to endear him to the Stamford Bridge faithful. His performances have been so bad that we’ve almost forgotten what a sensational start he had to his Chelsea career and that he was the leading assist player last season. Until we find a player to take over from Terry as the leader on the pitch then we still need him in the side. There’s more to being the club captain than wearing the armband. This is another issue that should have been solved in the summer and Mourinho should have prepared for before now.
